Ultrasonic instruments, including both hollow core and solid core instruments, are used for the safe and effective treatment of many medical conditions. Ultrasonic instruments, and particularly solid core ultrasonic instruments, are advantageous because they may be used to cut and/or coagulate organic tissue using energy in the form of mechanical vibrations transmitted to a surgical end-effector at ultrasonic frequencies. Ultrasonic vibrations, when transmitted to organic tissue at suitable energy levels and using a suitable end-effector, may be used to cut, dissect, or cauterize tissue. Ultrasonic instruments utilizing solid core technology are particularly advantageous because of the amount of ultrasonic energy that may be transmitted from the ultrasonic transducer through the waveguide to the surgical end-effector. Such instruments are particularly suited for use in minimally invasive procedures, such as endoscopic or laparoscopic procedures, wherein the end-effector is passed through a trocar to reach the surgical site.
Ultrasonic vibration is induced in the surgical end-effector by, for example, electrically exciting an electro-mechanical element, which may be constructed of one or more piezoelectric or magnetostrictive elements in the instrument handpiece. Vibrations generated by the electro-mechanical element are transmitted to the surgical end-effector via an ultrasonic waveguide extending from the transducer section to the surgical end-effector.
Another form of ultrasonic surgery is performed by High Intensity Focused Ultrasound, commonly referred to as “HIFU”. HIFU is currently used for lithotripsy procedures where kidney stones are broken up into small pieces by ultrasonic shock waves generated through ultrasound energy focussed into the body from an extracorporeal source. HIFU is also under investigational use for treating ailments such as benign prostatic hyperplasia, uterine fibroids, liver lesions, and prostate cancer.
Examples of uses of ultrasound to treat the body can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,767,402; 4,821,740; 5,016,615; 6,113,570; 6,113,558; 6,002,961 6,176,842 B1; PCT International Publication numbers WO 00/27293; WO 98/00194; WO 97/04832; WO 00/48518; WO 00/38580; WO 98/48711; and Russian Patent number RU 2152773 C1.
Although the aforementioned devices and methods have proven successful, it would be advantageous to provide an intracorporeal instrument for sonodynamic therapy, and methods of sonodynamic treatment capable of improved outcomes for patients. This invention provides such an intracorporeal instrumennt and method for sonodynamic therapy.